S: Yeah, that’s why I put them there. I ate half; and left the other half for you whenever you got up.

P: I’ve been going by that plate all day – sneaking a few here and there! I thought to myself ‘She won’t notice if one more is missing…’ All this time, they were for me?!?! All of them?

S: Yeah.

P: Oh. (pause) Well, then why did you eat the rest of them later?

S: You weren’t eating them. I wasn’t just going to let them go to waste! They’re GOOD nuts!

P: (shakes his head and walks away) Make the nuts. Tomorrow.

It’s funny. The nuts are really easy to make. Nothing magical. And Peter is actually a really good cook. I think he just likes the fact that they appear magically in the morning. One day after making him nuts, I got this text message (from a person that hardly ever texts me, mind you)…

“Ohh how I’ve missed my nuts”

I was mad at him for not texting me back the previous day – so I intentionally did not respond to his reply. But, as my sister tells me, I can be tough when I need to be… “I’ll do your laundry and make you your special nuts, but I WILL NOT text you back. I’m mad at you.”

Anyways, I digress. The point is these nuts are the one thing I do well at home.

It’s almost enough to make a person cocky…

Prior to yesterday, I felt like anything I made with those nuts would be appreciated.

I was wrong.

He was getting ready to leave for work and I was making breakfast. I asked him, “You want some breakfast.”

He says, “Eh, I’m not that hungry.”

I said, “How about a LITTLE breakfast? I made nuts…”

He smiles and agrees, “Okay a LITTLE breakfast then…”

The Breakfast Menu

I warmed up some pancakes (from last week – freeze any extras and pull out only as many as you need later) and decided I would make this delicious breakfast with whole grain pancakes, goat cheese, warm peaches, and maple spice nuts. I fixed myself two pancakes and him one.

We sat down to eat. Two bites into the meal, he looks at me. “Does this have cream cheese on it?”

I stop mid-bite, “No, it’s a little bit of goat cheese. Why? You don’t like it?”

He looks down at his pancake with a new look of disgust, “Ew. I don’t like goat cheese. Why does goat cheese have to taste like it came from the goat’s butt?”

Unconcerned with my look, he smiles, slides his plate over to me, grabs a few extra nuts from the kitchen, tosses me a “Have a good day at work,” and he’s out the door. Meanwhile, my carefully planned portion grows by 33%. That man.

Despite my roommates very rude comments…

As long as you’re okay with goat cheese, I think you might like this pancake variation. (INSERT BIG-SMILE-TO-SELL-IDEA-OF-GOAT-BUTT-ON-PANCAKE HERE)

I certainly enjoyed it.

Recipe: Cinnamon Spice Nuts

Ingredients:

1/3 C Pecans

1/3 C Almonds

1/3 C Walnuts

1 tsp Canola (or Coconut) Oil

1 1/2 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/4 tsp Kosher Salt

Sprinkle of Black Pepper (if desired)

2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

Directions:

In a small skillet, heat nuts and oil until fragrant and toasted, but not burnt. Tossing frequently helps keep them from burning. Sometimes I put the lid on it if I’m in a hurry – but only for short periods. This process takes maybe 5-6 minutes.

Once nuts are toasted, add spices and salt.

Quickly thereafter, add the maple syrup and toss until mixture is dry in a hot pan.

Remove from heat and place on a cool plate. Let nuts cool at least 6 minutes before eating. They will get crunchier after cooling completely.

A Note to the Diabetics: Syrup can be very difficult to incorporate in a low carb diet. 1 Tbsp Syrup = 15g carbohydrate. A 4-5 inch pancake = 15g carbohydrate. 1 medium peach = 15g carbohydrate. Things are adding up quickly. If 2 pancakes with a few syrup flavored nuts and 1/2 a piece of fruit don’t get you feeling full – you might consider adding eggs to this meal. I would NOT recommend adding more pancakes and syrup.